Working full-time under Dr. Sara Suliman at the University of California, San Francisco - School of Medicine: Department of Experimental Medicine, to investigate and identify potential biomarkers to predict patient susceptibility, progression, and control of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis infection. (R01-AI175614)Directly handling, experimenting, and evaluating both latent and active TB and TB/HIV coinfected patient sputum and blood samples, where we are focusing on the amino acid tyrosine’s role in TB infection, susceptibility, progression to active TB, recovery, and long-term health outcomes. My research aims also include sample and data management from mass spectrometry metabolic profiling experiments of plasma from TB patients undergoing treatment, flow cytometry analysis, and conducting in vitro experiments on CRISPR/Cas9 gene-edited, humanized mouse models to validate findings from metabolic studies conducted in treatment cohorts.

After completing my Molecular and Cellular Biology degree, I was hired by Dr. Angela Perone as a part time researcher to continue our work together in a variety of ways through the Center for Advanced Study of Aging Services at UC Berkeley (CASAS). Through this experience, I will continue my work with Dr. Perone via publications and continue our partnership with a renowned Bay Area based nonprofit, The Good Life, to improve the Standard of Care (SoC) for BIPOCs and minority/vulnerable populations.

Working under the renowned former Civil Rights attorney and new Social Welfare Assistant Professor, Dr. Angie Perone, we are studying the Conflicting Rights in Nursing Homes. More specifically, the intersectionality of the rights of both healthcare workers and their patients and how they may conflict with the quality of patient care and work conditions in nursing homes. We are analyzing the impacts of discrimination, religious beliefs, and social work on patients and their healthcare providers at two well-known nursing facilities.After collecting the data over two years, Dr. Perone recruited a team of students, including myself, to conduct historical literature reviews, complete quantitative and qualitative coding procedures to identify all papers including topics of interest, and curation of the beginning phases of a scholarly research publication.Additionally, at the end of my URAP term, Dr. Perone invited me to continue on various research projects and publications throughout the summer. I continued my work on literature review, paper editing, assessing publications, etc.

- Curated applications for mentor-mentee STEM students to apply to EOP STEM Mentorship Program- Paired mentors to mentees to facilitate supportive, professional relationships across shared interests/major- Dedicated 5+ hours per week to team meetings, program curations, brainstorming events- Strengthened professional relationships with the advising and professional teams- Facilitate Opening and Closing ceremonies for new mentor-mentee matchups

Working under Dr. Michael Lipnick, a renowned anesthesiologist, and his research team, we are investigating skin tone biases in Pulse Oximetry technology against the current standards and curating a global Diversity Toolkit for research professionals to utilize when conducting ethnically diverse research. Through community outreach initiatives to gain participants, on-site pulse oximeter comparisons between different skin tone groups, and research on the diversity of pulse oximetry and its capacity to accurately measure O2 levels in the blood across a variety of skin tones, we are working towards pushing for more advanced and accurate pulse oximetry technology and more accurate representations of blood O2 levels across all pulse oximeters.This work is critically important because pulse oximeters are used by patients, anesthesiologists, and other medical professionals daily, and monitoring patients' O2 levels properly is vital to ensuring the best care and health outcomes for patients. Additionally, ensuring that O2 readings stay consistent across skin tones is crucial for equitable and adequate care.

Maternal and Fetal Precision Medicine

After being accepted into the Undergraduate Research Internship Program through the University of California, San Francisco in partnership with Kaiser Permanente, I was given the incredible opportunity to collaborate on a variety of research projects with renowned OBGYN providers, Dr. Teresa Sparks, Dr. Mary Norton, Dr. Kate Swanson, and their research team through the Center for Maternal-Fetal Precision Medicine during the Summer of 2023. In these research projects through the Center for Maternal-Fetal Precision Medicine, we are observing the impacts of fetal growth restrictions (FGR) and fetal hydrops on fetal development and using exome and whole genome sequencing procedure results to quantify patient decisions on current or future pregnancies. I was responsible for going through chart reviews of patients, quantitative coding of interviews, and analyzing data for patterns/significant findings. At the end of the program, I presented at a research symposium to display our research goals and preliminary findings to URI alumni, cohorts, and directors. I will stay with Dr. Sparks and Dr. Norton's clinical research team beyond the 8-week program to continue our studies. Eventually, this work will culminate into a formal research paper that will be under construction starting in August 2023.In addition to being on two separate research projects, I shadowed under a wealth of different physicians such as gastroenterologists, orthopedic surgeons, anesthesiologists, OBGYNS, oncologists, internal medicine, emergency room medicine, as well as many other specialties. I also participated in weekly didactics meetings with the cohort, where we learned a wealth of information about medical school, medical specialties, applying to UCSF, and much more.

- Work promptly to find, inspect, and package outbound customer orders in a timely manner- Conduct quality checks of items before shipping out to the customer- Extensive product knowledge of Nordstrom carried brands- Manage extensive queues of customer items; conduct searches for products around the store in order to please the customer

After interning under my EOP STEM Mentorship Program Lead, I was promoted by the Educational Opportunity Program at UC Berkeley to a leadership position.In this position, I work closely with the head of the Mentorship Program to hire new interns, create applications for mentors and mentees, conduct mentor-mentee matchups based on majors and common interests, curate engaging social events for our cohort to participate in, as well as many other responsibilities. Additionally, I meet weekly with the EOP STEM team to talk about the state of the program, if any support is needed with budgets or event curations, and to build rapport with the lead staff.

I work closely with elementary school mentees through interactive teaching, mentorship, and fostering a healthy role-modeling relationship.

After excelling in my Cellular and Molecular Biology course, I reached out and inquired about being a Student Lab Assistant for my former professor, Dr. Scott Matern. Through this position, I obtained more hands-on experience with Polymerase Chain Reaction, Illumina, biochemical assays, Micro Pipetting, tissue examinations, and agar plate cultures. I also interacted with other Biology department faculty and professors and presented my research proposal project at the end of the semester, which posed the question of how various light exposure levels affect serotonin hormone levels in the blood. Additionally, I assisted enrolled students by going over the class lecture material and lab components as they needed.

I worked closely with Orthopedic and Podiatric Surgeons in the San Ramon Kaiser Permanente Office.As a Student Medical Assistant, I strengthened my understanding of medical terminology, took vital signs, checked in and screened patients, molded and shipped out orthotic castings, disposed of hazardous medical materials, and shadowed minor in-clinic orthopedic and podiatric surgeries.Through this position, I obtained over 200 clinical hours and obtained my Administrative Medical Assisting License.

Trained in BLS, First Aid, and Oxygen administration.During the summers of 2017 and 2018, I watched over waterpark goers, ensuring safety protocols for water slide tower use were being followed.Demonstrated proper water slide riding form and assessed ride integrity through safety checks prior to opening.